On the day he took office, President DONALD TRUMP insisted that U.S. control of Greenland was necessary for American security. But short of buying — or seizing — the island outright, Trump already has much of what he wants in Greenland.

In 1865, in the wake of the Civil War, the U.S. began looking to expand its influence on the world stage. This happened at precisely the moment when Russia, having just lost the Crimean War, was seeking to counterbalance British power in the Pacific. This proved to be the perfect recipe for American expansion in the Arctic.